Celebrating 600 episodes: the 6 powerful lessons I’ve learned and how you can apply them too

0:07Welcome to a very special episode of Motherkind. It is our 600th episode. I can hardly believe it. We are proudly sponsored by Wild Nutrition's Women's Supplements. And this is the show that is going to grab you by the hand and be your expert guide for the wild ride that is motherhood. I am obsessed. Yes, even 600 episodes later to supporting you, the woman behind the mother. When I started this podcast eight years ago, I never imagined we'd be here. 600 conversations later, hours of wisdom and our incredible community tuning in every week. And I just want to say thank you. If you have been with me from the early days, or if this is your first ever episode, thank you.

0:56This podcast is only what it is because of you. The millions of downloads, the Sunday Times bestselling book, all the speaking and events I get to do, this is only because of you. So however you are feeling tuning in this morning, I want you to know that you are doing far better than you think and I am right here cheering you on and today I want to give you a gift because from all of those 600 episodes I have distilled the six biggest lessons that have changed me as a woman, as a mother and as a human and I hope that they will change you too.

1:36I'd like to take this moment to thank our headline sponsor Wild Nutrition who are offering MotherKind listeners 50 % off for the first three months. When I was pregnant with my first 10 years ago, I asked a few nutritionist friends, what's the best pregnancy supplement? And they all said the same thing, wild nutrition. So I listened and these incredible supplements have kept me feeling great through two pregnancies, starting this podcast, writing a book, a relocation and everything in between for the last decade. So it's magical to me that I now get to tell you about this incredible woman founded brand every week.

2:12So the food grown pregnancy and new mother multi is expertly formulated to support you from conception right through to postpartum and beyond. And food grown magnesium is backed by a gold standard scientific study that shows it has the potential to help you sleep an extra 42 minutes a night and increase sleep quality by 32%. Yes, please. I know how much of a difference wild nutrition has made in my motherhood journey. And we want you to experience it too. That's why they're giving MotherKind listeners an exclusive 50 % off for three months and a free personal consultation with a nutritional therapist.

2:48Just go to wildnutrition.com forward slash MotherKind to get started. That's wildnutrition.com forward slash MotherKind so you can feel the difference yourselves. Start 2026 rooted in wellness. T's and C's apply.

3:04Okay, so the first lesson is that you have to look after your self first. I used to think that being a great mother and woman was about giving to others, to work, to kids, to family, to friends. And now after 600 episodes, and it's taken me that long to get this, I know it's about giving to myself first so I can be the most resourced and regulated version of me as I give to others. When I experienced burnout in 2021, I really learned this the hard way. I was barely able to function. My business suffered, my marriage, and definitely my girls. And I will never, ever let that happen again. And I know exactly how the burnout happened.

3:48We were doing our big move from London to the seaside. And there was so much to do, moving home, schools, supporting my highly sensitive eldest who doesn't like change. And then we went straight into the summer holidays. I had no childcare, yet no drop in workload, and I didn't know a soul. So in a way, it was a complete recipe for disaster. But I did that thing, that obvious mistake that as things got busier, I just kept doing more and more for others and less and less for myself. I stopped journaling, which is the number one way I resourced myself by making sense of my thoughts and feelings.

4:25I didn't do any exercise. I didn't even go on a solo walk. And at the end of that summer, I was completely burned out, exhausted, resentful, dysregulated. And I pulled myself back using the tools that I've developed through Motherkind that are in the book and that are in the five minute Motherkind 21 day challenge. And it's such a myth that taking care of ourselves takes time, takes money. It's just not true. I spent the last eight years learning the quickest, most effective ways in just five minutes that you can keep yourself resourced. Some of the ones that really help me are being mindful of my inner dialogue.

5:04What is going on between my ears? What am I saying to myself? Is it supportive or is it the opposite? Releasing my stress, known as completing the stress cycle. I'm obsessed with that. And managing my energy. So knowing my energy blueprint and knowing how to do the things that give me energy and do less of the things that drain me. I really want you to try five-minute mother kind. You get the first three days free. So just click on the link in the show notes. Okay. Lesson two from 600 episodes is that the small things daily matter more than big things occasionally. So many experts have told me transformation isn't about doing one big thing.

5:45It's about tiny, consistent habits. One of my favourite of our guests, Mel Robbins, taught me this, that it's the small things that ladder up. I think that's true at work. It's true in self-development. It's true in health. It's true in parenting. Being consistent day after day is what makes change because those small things compound. And then you look back and you realise how different you feel and how far you have come. This is why New Year's resolutions never work. It's why declaring everything has to change and throwing your hands up in the air. Who hasn't been there? I know I have, but it rarely works.

6:25What works and the changes that I've made in the last eight years, and I'm pretty unrecognisable from when I started this podcast, is because I have been able to do things in small, consistent, bite-sized chunks. I have moved to our dream home by the sea. I've had a second child since starting this podcast, Sunday Times bestseller. I'm more confident than ever. I have ticked so many things off that I thought would just be a dream. And it's only because I have shown up in little ways, day after day, week after week, year after year. You know, the secret is that there is no secret. The key to becoming the woman and the mother you want to be is to choosing one small habit and doing it consistently and then adding another.

7:10And that's it. Sorry that it's not more kind of sexy or exciting or surprising than that. That is it. So choose one thing you want to work on, whether it's your health, your mindset, your business or career, your energy or your parenting. Get very specific on the change that you want. Break it down into small chunks. Choose one habit that will get you there. Do it to the timescale you commit to. And trust me, you will not believe where you get to in one month or even three months.

7:41This episode is brought to you by The Family Suite, the new travel platform showcasing the world's most beautiful family-friendly luxury hotels. The Family Suite is a new travel platform creating the world's most beautiful genuinely family-friendly luxury hotels. It is now live at thefamilysuite.co.uk and on Instagram at the underscore family suite. Please go and have a look. It is just absolutely beautiful, all of the hotels. Each hotel is hand-picked for its design, warmth and enriching experiences of all ages making it easier than ever to plan unforgettable family getaways perfect for modern parents looking for trusted inspiring recommendations with editorial storytelling practical tips and a best price guarantee start planning your next family getaway with the family suite and explore the full collection now at thefamilysuite.co.uk and discover luxury hotels around the world that truly welcome families that's thefamilysuite.co.uk dot co dot uk okay lesson three connection beats perfection i used to aim for being the perfect mum the perfect snack the perfect response the perfectly scripted emotional coaching but the most powerful message that i have heard time and time and time and time again is that our kids do not need us to be perfect no one needs us to be perfect they need us to feel connected to them.

9:17I've tried to be many things perfectly. And one of the biggest things is the perfect cycle breaker, because there are so many things that I wanted to, and I still want to do differently. And if you remember on the podcast, kind of 2020, 2021, many of our guests, including Dr. Gabor Mate, were about how to break cycles, how to do things differently, how to understand yourself and your own childhood so that you don't repeat it. And, you know, in many ways, so well-intentioned, but I definitely got obsessed with doing that and it didn't help. I just put myself under so much pressure. So a huge part of, you know, these 600 episodes and how I have matured and changed over the last eight years is about letting go of any idea that I'm going to do any of this perfectly.

10:05It is such a trap. So many guests have taught me that it's not the obvious things that we have to be perfect at. It's the things that, you know, a human like dropping a ball or snapping that then we beat ourselves up about. You know, so I really have learned that connection beats perfection. Progress beats perfection. And keeping that idea that we have to do things perfectly is how I have changed and grown so much in the last eight years. All right, lesson four, your story and your struggles are your strength. I think early on in MotherKind, I used to share perhaps my harder feelings, but the 600 conversations later have shown me the opposite, that it is our vulnerability that connects us.

10:56And every time I've shared honestly, or I've had a guest who shared honestly, whether it's about burnout or matricence or work relationships or motherhood challenges, it's definitely created the deepest connection. And I don't know anyone who has sailed through this phase of their lives, whether it's pregnancy, birth, relationships, work, parenting, your relationship to yourself. Almost everyone I know, every mother I know has struggled with something, which means that every single one of us has a story to tell and a strength you probably didn't know you had before. And whether you've come out of the other side of it or you're still in it, your strength lies in your vulnerability, in asking for help and in sharing it.

11:44Okay, lesson five, community is medicine. I've said this so many times, motherhood was never meant to be done alone. And I can't tell you how many guests have reminded me of that truth. And every week reading your messages that you send in, you email in, you DM, sometimes even get things, handwritten cards. It's the community. It's the sharing our stories. And probably the deepest lesson that I've learned across the past 600 episodes and eight years is that as a high functioning, independent to a fault woman is the ability to be vulnerable, is the ability to ask for help. It's how we get through the highs.

12:28It's how we get through the lows. So community is everything. Asking for help is everything. And I just want to say thank you to you, our community, because we wouldn't be here without you. And I cannot wait to celebrate 700 episodes with you. Okay, the last lesson, lesson six, you are all ready enough. If I could tattoo one message on every mother's heart, it would be this, you are enough already. And I have heard this from so many guests that you're enough even when you snap. You're enough even when you drop balls. You are enough even when you think you're getting it wrong. And the next time that inner critic shows up, I want you to put your hand on your heart and whisper, I'm enough.

13:16I am doing enough. I am okay because you are. And I really wish that you could make that journey from your head to intellectually knowing that, to really feeling it in your heart because you are enough. And I've really learned that from so many experts. Okay. That is it. Six lessons from 600 episodes and eight years of talking about motherhood and our lives as the women behind the mother. I really hope that whether you're a new listener or a long-time listener that Mother Kind has supported you I really hope that it will continue to support you thank you for being with me on this journey cheesy as that sounds whether you've listened to one or all of them this podcast would not exist without you so thank you and I will see you next time for our 601st episode I'm always cheering you on.

14:15See you next time.